Worth The Trouble?
by ScarletMucy
Summary: A cocky frostdork unintentionally meets a beanpole and learns that he's actually quite socially awkward. Hijack/Frostcup.
1. I Don't Know

_I can't tell you much about myself, there isn't a lot that I know. My name is Jack, Jack Frost. That's right, the spirit of winter. And when I awoke many years ago, everything was cold…and dark. And I was scared. Since then I haven't spoken to anyone (not for a lack of trying mind you). I've lost track of just how long it has been. I don't like to think about it much, it's not like I can talk to anyone about what's bothering me, so what's the use?_

I sighed heavily in frustration, breathing out a wispy gust of snowflakes as my stupid one track mind yet again reminded me of the questions I didn't have answers for. My grip tightened on the staff in my hands as I stood up in the tree I'd since been perched in. I needed something to distract myself, something fun, something to make me laugh. And God knows I wasn't going to find it on a cold, deserted mountain-side.

Looking across the horizon, I pondered for maybe a second at most, before my sights were set, quite honestly there wasn't much of a competitive choice. I jumped down to the snow-covered ground below and began descending towards my destination.

I'd based myself on a small isolated group of islands several years ago. The islands were surrounded by violent waters and rocky coastlines. There were a handful of villages dotting across the closely knit land masses that I was aware of, however there was only one in particular that satisfied my fun-fix. Placed in the valley between two mountains and right by the steep shoreline was the village I was most fond of, most likely because in all my travels I'd never covered a more interesting place in snow.

The village in question was run entirely by Vikings, who were bigger than any people I'd seen elsewhere. They were fierce people, big and burly and strong. It was almost a relief that they couldn't see me, I'd be crushed in seconds for sure.

And if that wasn't enough of a driving force, these people had somehow managed to tame dragons. No joke, giant freakin' dragons.

For a while I'd actually fancied having one of my own...until I realized they too walked through me.

It wasn't like I needed one though, I could fly myself anyway (I did mention that, didn't I?).

Where was I? Right, the village.

I'd gotten the place quite the reputation actually, with my violent snow storms and blizzards. You could say I was pretty stoked about that. Hell, only every nine months would I give the poor suckers a break from it... just to make it hail the other three. Heh.

I arrived in the snowy village a short time after my descent, greeted (not literally of course) by busy passing Vikings. They were always tending to something or other it seemed; when these people had time to just enjoy themselves was beyond me. A grin tugged at the corner of my lips as the Vikings bustled by me, of course, I was always happy to assist them with that…

I could go on for hours about the amazing snowball fights I'd started; all the people I'd gotten out of their houses and into the snow to play. I'd never get tired of it. Every expression is priceless, every giggle is infectious, and every snow ball I throw that actually makes contact with someone else makes me so childishly giddy its almost unbearable.

Another perfect opportunity to start up some fun struck me as I saw several young Viking children approaching out of the corner of my eye. I grinned. Big.

I raised an open palm to my lips, chuckling softly before I blew into it; manifesting a spherical gust of icy wind that then became a snow ball.

Grasping it gently I raised my arm behind my head, ready to throw it once their kids had turned the other way. This didn't take long, and before I knew it I'd knocked over a little red-headed Viking girl. She lay flat in the slow for a second or two at most- the other kids had parted around her- before she leapt to her feet.

"Alright..." She growled, glaring around at the group menacingly; her nostrils were flaring and her eyes wide. "Who threw that?!"

Honestly, Viking women were some of the scariest people I'd ever seen. If I had to choose between taming a Viking woman, or a dragon, I'd choose the dragon in a heartbeat. I'd rather have my ass handed back to me in one piece, thank you.

The rest of the children looked between each other sheepishly, probably unsure of how to respond.

"Nobody huh?" she said, giving them little time as she reached for a clump of snow in her fists.

_'Here it comes.' _

Without warning the young girl flung it into the face of one of the other kids, punctuated with a zealous shout of triumph.

Within seconds the street was resounding with laughter as snowballs were pelted in every which direction. The energy in these kids was pretty damn admirable, though I guess from Vikings it was to be expected. I found myself laughing along with them, the giddiness rising from the pit of my stomach as I raced around trying to supply the kids with snowballs where they needed it.

Eventually the fight led into the back alleys, and I wasn't entirely sure when it'd happened but there were definitely more kids that there were to begin with. Teams had been formed somewhere between here and the opening of the village, and the kids had themselves pretty well-supplied. That's when I stepped back a little, leaning into my staff and admiring my work, chuckles still falling gently from my lips.

Orange light from the setting sun reflected gently against the footprint-ridden snow; dipping in between the heavy shadows of the buildings as the children still continued to play amongst it all with boundless energy and shrill laughter. I'd definitely gotten what I was looking for, I always did really.

As I looked up toward the darkening sky however, I became more than aware that it was nearly over….

"Rancid! Where are you, it's time for dinner!"

Immediately the red-headed girl from before stopped, hand poised mid-throw.

"Coming!" She hollered back seconds later, before giving a look to the other children "I have to go guys, let's play again tomorrow!"

The snow fight died down a little after that, and one by one each of children disappeared. Before I knew it I was alone again, and no amount of snowballs was going to bring anyone back outside.

Sighing I slung my staff up onto my shoulder; gripping it loosely, and began walking out of the narrow alley. I let snowflakes fall freely around me as I walked, shivering invitingly as they touched my skin.

I'd arrived back at the opening where the snowball fight had begun shortly after, eyeing off a place that I might like to sleep. It wasn't that I needed sleep, in fact I couldn't remember a time where I ever needed it, not since I opened my eyes for the first time…. I glanced upward for a second towards the moon, scowling as he shone dimly upon me before continuing my search.

Sleep was just something that passed the time I suppose, I liked to dream and curl up away from it all every once and a while. This was one of those whiles.

I'd glanced over the usual places: rooftops, high tree branches, the occasional windowsill, and that's when I saw a building I hadn't before.

It was a compact, sturdy structure, slightly rounded too. Blurry light was coming inside, most likely from lit torches.

I can't quite explain how or why, but I felt drawn to it. I wanted to sleep there that night.

Stepping closer I couldn't find a sign or any sort of indication as to what it was or contained, and the windows were so foggy with frost I couldn't make out what was inside (though, I guess I had myself to blame for that one).

It made me curious.

I ran my hand along its wooden door, before reaching for the handle and opening it.

I stepped inside and felt the door shut behind me quite loudly, causing me to jump. I looked upwards and found a pair of eyes on me…or the door rather. It was a short man, who showed a rather uncanny semblance to the building we were both currently in. His gaze averted quickly though, as he returned to flicking through the pages of a book on the counter in front of him.

I sighed and took this time to take in my surroundings. From one corner of the room to the other were isles and isles of books, leaving my previous curiosity to dwindle.

"Tch…" I said mocking the room around me, "How boring. Who knew Vikings could read, anyways?"

Making smart ass comments was sort of a thing for me. I'd become so accustomed to not being heard I wasn't really afraid to say anything to anyone, which in itself was a curse and a blessing I suppose. A blessing because the lack of consequence whatsoever, and a curse because God damn I have come up with some good come backs and remarks!

It certainly didn't look like there'd be anything to fuel my sarcastic monologues in the dusty old store... and yet, I found myself stepping further inside.

Walking among the shelves, that strange pulling sensation remained ever present. I don't know what I was expecting to find, though the excessive amount of dragon books did explain the Viking's ability to tame such beasts. That was pretty much the room's essence, across the walls there were painted shields and fabrics, all depicting the mighty creatures in some way.

My eyes glanced across the shelves beside me again, and I ran my fingers over the spines of several books. I still don't what possessed me to, but I grasped one of them, and pulled it out to look at it. Similarly to everything else in the little building, the book had a dragon etched into its cover. It was very large and black, and while I'd seen quite a few different dragons, I don't believe I'd ever seen one quite like the one in front of me now. There was writing above the dragon too, but I'd be lying if I said I knew what it said.

Continuing in my absent musing, I opened the hard cover book, only to be bombarded by a cloud of dust that seemed to leap off the pages and straight into my face. I coughed out several snowflakes whilst trying to swat the small forming cloud away with my hand.

My suspicions as to whether or not Vikings actually did read were substantially heightened.

Once the dust had dispersed, I squinted down at the page in front of me, disappointed to find no pictures. Instead, there were scratchy markings scrawled across the paper, and I doubted if _anyone_ could make out what it said.

I spent the next few minutes flicking through several pages while wondering how a person could could be entertained by this. It really was no wonder the books looked like they hadn't been touched in years...

As I was about to close the damn thing I noticed a piece of parchment slip out between the pages and onto the floor. I presumed it was some sort of place-keeping device, and by the looks of it, the previous user found the book I'd been looking at so boring that they never got back to it.

I saw no harm in leaving it where it was (what'd I tell you about zero consequence?), and returned to searching around the room for some semblance of a comfortable place to sleep. It was then I realized the beveled ledge surrounding the perimeter of the room. It looked broad enough to sleep on, and I'd always been a sucker for high places. So making my decision I began moving towards it, contemplating where exactly on the ledge I would sleep.

I'd gotten two, maybe three steps towards it when-

"U-uh excuse me sir?" a voice called out behind me, it sounded strangely close too. Funny, I hadn't remembered seeing anyone else in the store -other than the store clerk.

I turned around, silently wondering who the voice was talking to. What my eyes landed upon however, caused every other thought in my mind to vanish. My whole body fell stiff.

There, standing in front of me was a boy…holding the place-keeper.

_Surely there was some logical explanati-_

"Sorry," He said, though I barely registered what he was saying, "It's just, you nearly left without your bookmark."

_Was he really talking to…?_

My eyes darted behind the boy, where I saw a set of tables and a book that had been set down.

_Has he been sitting there all along?_

_How did I not notice something like that..?_

"I know what it's like to lose those things!" the boy laughed.

My eyes darted back to him.

_Was it possible that he could….?_

"It just kills me to the fold those pages and I… uhh…hey are you okay?"

He could _see_ me.

He could_ fucking _see me.

There was so much running through my mind, I tried to think out a response, I tried to make some sort of gesture but I was so damn scared all I could do was stutter like an idiot. I could feel heat rising to my cheeks (don't even ask me how that's possible) out of sheer embarrassment for how stupid I must have looked.

_'This might be your one chance to talk to someone!' I heard my mind scream, 'You have to say something!"_

My solid confidence had deserted me, walked out hand in hand with my snarky attitude and composure apparently, leaving me to splutter out nothings to this kid. I tried to look up at him, away from my feet, but my eyes were so blurred with tears and I was blinking so furiously it was really quite difficult. My whole body was shaking as I tried to focus on him. The kid just looked confused.

Suddenly he was reaching out, his hand was on my shoulder.

He was _touching_ me. _Someone_ was touching _me_.

My eyes fixated on his hand instantly, before following up his arm and back to his face, I choked back a sob as my heart pounded loudly in my ears.

"Seriously, you look like you've just seen a ghost, are you alright?" he looked back at me.

I didn't know whether to be happy or sad, whether to laugh or curl up and cry somewhere. It had been..forever..as long as I could ever remember.. I didn't even know…

Just what the heck was I supposed to do?!

Someone was actually asking me, how I felt, how I _fucking_ felt, but did I have an answer? Psh, no.

The kid was speaking again, but I could no longer hear it over the sporadic thumps resounding in my ears.

I couldn't handle this… and so I did the only thing I could at that moment.

I ran.

I ran for my life.

As quick as it had all began, I tore my gaze away from the boy, stealing one last glance of his confused features before dashing away.

I ran as fast as I could, out of the store, out of the village, as far away as my legs would carry me. And I _kept _running until my legs gave out underneath me and I collapsed in the freshly fallen snow.

I laid there for some time, panting and spluttering as I tried to catch my breath. After a while, I rolled over onto my back. That is where I slept that night.

_My name is Jack, Jack Frost. That's right, the biggest idiot who ever lived._


	2. Idiot

Several days had passed since the incident. And you'd be just short of crazy if you think I had moved an inch in that time.

In the elapsing days and nights, the snow around me had begun to melt, I couldn't muster a single snowflake. That's how spooked I was. And can you blame me?

How in the world was it that I could be seen now?

What had I done differently?

Had my curse just suddenly been lifted? It didn't make any sense! There had to be a reason and I had to know why.

Hours upon hours I'd been asking myself these same questions, each time bringing up nothing as a result. During the nights, I also spoke to the moon about it, thinking perhaps he had some explanation for me.

Unfortunately however, the moon, as always, was a poor conversationalist. Either that or he was just damn anti-social, I don't know.

And thus, I was left to sit and stew over it on my own.

My entire back half had become wet with the melting snow beneath me, soaking right through my clothes to my skin. And it wasn't like the coldness of that bothered me either, but the realization that my cloak would be sticking annoyingly to my back and weighing me down when I flew had me on my feet promptly. That was a good start out of my stupor at least, even though I nearly stumbled straight back over in the process. My joints had become so stiff as a result of my reluctance to move, they strained noticeably as I tried to stand.

Trying to remedy this I gave a huge stretch, hearing several satisfying pops all up my spine before finally turning back towards the Viking village. The sun was rising over it once more, and I could already make out several figures moving about between the constructs of houses and other buildings.

It was then I finally acknowledged the nagging thought in the back of my mind, that had really been the answer all my questions over the passing days:

I was going to have to go back to the village.

And for a guy of _my_ stature? That was a pretty scary thought to try and process. I don't think I need to re-mention the Viking women...

The only thing that kept me going downward in the village's direction was the need for answers, because really I had nothing else to go on. I didn't know how or why this had happened, or when even. For now all I knew for sure was that people could see me.

Continuing down the steep incline, that slowly began to flatten out as I came closer to its base, I pondered about just how I'd introduce myself. How I'd announce my existence and somehow slip in to the world around me, that is if I'd even be welcome.

I supposed "Hello I am the bringer of all those blizzards you hate" was probably not going on the list of ideal introductions.

It would be difficult; as far as I knew there wasn't anybody who processed powers like my own, would I have to keep them a secret? And considering my episode with that kid in the bookstore days before...would I even be able to speak at all?

It surprised me how all these incessant questions hadn't yet given me wrinkles.

It wasn't like me at all to question the nature of things , this whole happening had set me completely off balance. Suddenly I felt the need weigh out my options instead of jumping into which ever was the closest head first. A method of which had been working quite nicely up until this point...

That damn kid...

When I reached the village's entrance I halted a moment to take a deep breath. A light breeze had begun to blow, causing my cloak to cling to my skin as I'd predicted. But that was the least of my worries at that moment. Familiar feelings were creeping back into my chest, I felt nervous and very small. It made the first few steps inside the village quite difficult. Several minutes elapsed before I'd settled into a comfortable stride.

The outskirts of the village remained empty, the majority of its occupants yet to arise from slumber. Upon crossing paths with one of the villagers, it took everything in me to stop my heart from leaping out of my chest and manage a friendly nod. The burly Viking hadn't seemed to take notice of me however, and I was actually kind of relieved.

My confidence was on the rise after that, though. By the time I arrived in the village center I'd given several nods, a handful of smiles and even a 'Good Morning'. I was feeling on top of the world! Sure I hadn't rushed over in a hurry to greet anyone up close, or struck up any actual conversations; which is strange because that's exactly what I'd imagined myself doing...but none the less I was happy. It was actually a wonder I hadn't stood out to anyone, given most of the Viking's clear size difference to my own. I wasn't about to complain though.

Around me I noticed several lines of rope strewn between the central buildings. They held rows of unlit lanterns blowing softly in the morning breeze. I'd remembered seeing similar decorations around the same time last year, and the year before that. I assumed it was a part of some Viking celebration, what exactly for I'd never really worked out.

Vikings did a lot of_ weird_ things from what I'd seen though; I figured I'd learn about it sooner or later.

I was pulled from that train of thought by a loud laugh that nearly caused me to jump out of my skin. I turned around to see three Viking men conversing as they carried a large barrel above their heads across the village center. Unable to meet their eyes, I barely missed being knocked over as they passed by.

I could feel my heart beating a little faster at that and so I gave myself a moment to recover whilst noting this was probably something I'd needed to become accustomed to. My calming moment lasted only a matter of seconds however, before I was yet again required to lunge out of the way of more busily at work Vikings. This time they passed in a group of four, carrying several large barrels, similar to the last.

I caught the tail end of a conversation about the alcohol apparently contained in the wooden casements, before having to sidestep another two Vikings, loudly chatting away with crates under their arms. Seriously... being busy was one thing, but now they were just being rude!

"Hey!" I shouted at the backs of their heads with great offense.

As soon as the words left my mouth though... I realized they couldn't have possibly heard me over the sudden rush of voices and clatter that filled the space. My head whipped around quickly, and I stepped in a circle becoming acutely aware that I was now among a large crowd, of busy...and very big Vikings.

_'When had they..?'_

All at once I was jumping and swerving left, right and center just to avoid being trampled; I was not spared a moment to collect my thoughts that had all but been overtaken by panic. Even more so than those several days ago, my heart hammered against my chest as my eyes darted around what seemed like a sea of people, rushing like a strong ripped current with no place for me to escape. Swaying arms, fur clothing and hands that I swore were as big as my head surrounded me. I looked up in hope to see the sky, only to be met with the passing faces of people who suddenly looked so unfriendly.

_'W-what the hell am I supposed to say to them?'_

I shouted out again, probably something incoherent; it wasn't like I could hear myself, I'd only known I'd done so because of the painful rasp that made my throat feel raw. I was without answers, not a clue what to do; the beating of my heart in my ears so loud that the banter of the Vikings around me distanced into a blur of nothing.

_'I need to get out of here!'_

My breath was heavy, and I squinted ahead, trying to find a gap between the heavy crowd whilst still maneuvering myself around them as best I could to avoid being knocked over and stepped on. This was less than easy to do however; my head had become so fuzzy it was difficult to distinguish whether it was me or the Vikings who were spinning. Never had I felt so scared...so small, so incredibly helpless... And it'd all come right the heck out of _nowhere_!

From the corner of my eyes, that were brimming over and blurry with tears in my complete state of distraught, I finally caught glimpse of an opening: a way out.

Anything away from this onslaught of madness would do me just fine.

I sprung desperately towards it with everything I had amongst the moving sea of bodies, only that tiny opening in my sights. I was so close now... _so close_, when the light suddenly disappeared, blocked by a large figure. My neck snapped upwards to the obstruction; a Viking woman that dwarfed me in size was heading in a B-line towards me.

I was as good as dead.

My feet however, still yet to register my acceptance of death, took me backwards leaving me to stumble over. Cold wet ground met my back and I closed my eyes.. The thumps of the Viking woman were so close that they over powered even the erratic beats of my heart. Surely I'd be flat in a matter of seconds.

However... to my great misfortune, I was not met with the pain of being brutally crushed in the moments that followed, but a sensation I was far more familiar with.

Crippling tugs at the fibers of my being stretched from my physical body in such a chilling, unnatural way it had my whole frame shivering. Strands plucked, one by one, almost losing hold of my body entirely at the sheer bulk of this woman, before snapping back painfully with a little less elasticity than before.

.

.

She walked straight through me.

.

.

Gentle snow flakes began to fall around me, and for the second time just recently I felt like an idiot.

Nobody could _see_ me. Just how naive was I!?

Several more people passed through me, as though to answer my own painfully obvious question:_ "Pretty damn naive, Jack."_

Taking my surroundings more into consideration, whilst still trying to shake the lingering disorientation in my vision, I came to notice that the roaring crowd from seconds ago had all but vanished. Hell, there were at most seven people within the whole center, no rushing crowd to struggle though, no boisterous noise of incomprehensible volume.

And of course not a _peep_ from my heart.

On the slushy ground, a few feet to my left lay my staff. I hadn't recalled dropping it, but all the same reached for the long wooden rod. Amazingly this took a number of attempts; my vision still yet to catch up with my thoughts. Upon finally grasping it in my hand, I pulled it close to me and used it as leverage to lift my shaking legs off the ground. Apparently I'd been trembling the whole time. Wonderful.

For a while -I wasn't sure how long- I stood there with my staff, feeling sorry for myself and most likely looked entirely pathetic. I let out a dry chuckle at that. At least nobody could see how pitiful I looked, right?

_Right?_

There was only so many people I could put up with walking through me however, and somewhere by late morning I decided it was time I took my leave. I trudged bitterly back towards the exit of the village, honestly too deflated to summon up the wind to carry me. It was probably best anyway; the wind was quite the sensitive thing, and any slight attitude from me (which undoubtedly in my current state I would have given) would have had me dropped out of the sky and onto my ass, so...

Children that I recognized somewhat from the other day crossed my path, frolicking about gleefully in the newly falling snow. I couldn't help but scowl at them, the anger inside me searching for any form of outlet.

Naturally several of their various limbs were frozen by the time I'd passed by...

It was early evening when I'd finally reached my place back on the mountainside, and already I was sick to death of sulking...

Oh, you can bet I still kept scowling though.

Above me in the blue green hues of the darkening sky the moon shone down brightly, much more so that the previous nights. He was full, and round once more, decided to stop starving himself to a thin sliver again I suppose. Reminding myself more vividly of today's events, I gave him a dirty look.

"Would it have killed you to tell me?"

Of course the moon had nothing to say back to me...

"_Smug bastard_.." I muttered, rolling my eyes and turning my attention back to the village below. Dotted across the buildings, were small windows filled with warm orange light; everyone was back inside now.

I stared for a long while at the village, long enough for each and every orange light to have been blown out again...long enough that I could no longer muster a scowl. Seriously, if I didn't look like a wrinkly old man now, I probably never would.

Despite the village surrendering to sleep for the night, everything was still clearly lit by the moon. I wasn't going to lie... it _was_ a pretty sight. The snow had been falling for half the day now, and the vast white blanketing of the sleepy village shone brightly, reflecting the light of the moon. The snow flakes still falling also shone brightly, glittering as they fluttered gently toward the ground.

Finally I decided to make myself comfortable for the night, sitting down close by to where I'd been laying early that morning.

And that's when something really _strange_ happened...

Out of nowhere there was a blinding light and I had to shield my eyes with my cloak. It was minutes later before the light receded, and I could peer out from behind my raised arm. What I saw left me baffled.

There was a tunnel of concentrated light, shining thickly toward a small area of the village. I blinked several times to confirm what I was seeing before looking up towards the moon, the source of such a powerful light.

_"Is he...?'_

"Are you trying to tell me something?" I called out to him, my eyes darting back down to the village and back up to him again.

My mind was suddenly racing. The moon had never done anything like this, it had to mean something, right?

I glanced back and forth between the moon, and where he seemed to be shining his light.

_'Wait..'_

Without a second thought I stood up and dashed forward, leaping up into the air. The wind surged beneath me and began blowing my body toward the village. As I got closer, hovering above the outskirts it became very apparent as to what exactly what the moon was shining on. Below me, engulfed in the brilliant moonbeams was the sturdy little bookstore.

Something in my head clicked and seemed to set off a chain reaction of thoughts. My eyes darted back up towards the moon, and back to the book store once more.

I couldn't believe -even in the events of earlier- I'd forgotten..

_'I have to find that damn kid.'_


End file.
